-aholic, -holic, -oholic
-aholic, -holic, -oholic: suffisso
Thailand’s capital city Bangkok is a shopaholic‘s paradise catering to every taste, wallet and style.
I’m a confirmed chocoholic, and this cake looks absolutely wonderful.
If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, you could be a workaholic.
To a foodaholic, good food is a passion.
My name is Mary and I am a readaholic.
You may be a sugarholic and not even know it.
C’è chi adora fare shopping e c’è chi è shopaholic. A tanti piace il cioccolato, ma se si tratta di una passione travolgente forse sei un chocoholic. Amare il proprio lavoro è bello e gratificante, ma se il lavoro diventa l’unica attività che ti coinvolge, per esempio a scapito della vita sociale, beh allora sei decisamente un workaholic. Lo sport è la tua ragione d’essere? Sportaholic. Non riesci a staccarti da Internet? Potresti essere un webaholic, o magari un blogaholic.
Di tutti questi appellativi, il capostipite è workaholic, coniato nei lontani anni Sessanta. Da allora c’è stato un proliferare di termini formati con i suffissi –aholic o –oholic, dato che praticamente li si può attaccare a qualunque sostantivo o verbo. Le parole che terminano in –aholic sono molto più numerose di quelle che finiscono in –oholic, e per le bisillabe si tende a usare –holic (Twitterholic, Buffyholic). C’è da dire che molti di questi fantasiosi accostamenti non hanno fatto presa, ma dato che non c’è limite alla varietà di cose o attività di cui si può essere fanatici (o dipendenti, o maniaci che dir si voglia) chissà quanti altri ne saranno sfornati in futuro.
Origini del termine
I suffissi –aholic, –holic e –oholic si basano sul sostantivo alcoholic, (cioè alcolista, alcolizzato) termine che prese piede verso la fine del secolo XIX. La parola alcoholic non contiene il suffisso –holic ma quello più breve –ic, che viene usato anche nella formazione dell’aggettivo, perciò un alcoholic drink è una bevanda che contiene alcol, dunque una bevanda alcolica (o, per usare il sostantivo, un alcolico).
-aholic, -holic, -oholic: suffix
Thailand’s capital city Bangkok is a shopaholic‘s paradise catering to every taste, wallet and style.
I’m a confirmed chocoholic, and this cake looks absolutely wonderful.
If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, you could be a workaholic.
To a foodaholic, good food is a passion.
My name is Mary and I am a readaholic.
You may be a sugarholic and not even know it.
There are people who love to shop, and then there are shopaholics. There are many who enjoy a piece of chocolate, and there are those whose passion for it is out of control; they are chocoholics. Many people love their jobs; but if your job is the main focus of your life and you concentrate on it to the exclusion of all else, then I’m afraid you’re a workaholic. Is watching or playing sport the centre of your life? Sportaholic. Can’t keep off the Internet? Then maybe you’re a webaholic, or a blogaholic.
The first of these words to appear was workaholic, coined in the 1960s. Since then words ending in this suffix have proliferated, since almost any noun or verb can be placed before it. Words formed with -aholic vastly outnumber those ending in –oholic, while two-syllable base words tend to prefer plain –holic (Twitterholic, Buffyholic). Many of the coinages have failed to catch on. But whichever word it combines with, the suffix implies an intense and unhealthy preference, bordering on obsession, for the thing or activity mentioned.
Origins
The suffixes –aholic, -holic and –oholic are based on the noun alcoholic, meaning a person who is addicted to alcohol. Of course alcoholic does not itself contain the suffix –holic, but rather the shorter –ic. In the case of the adjective this carries the meaning of ‘relating to or characterized by’; so an alcoholic drink is one that contains alcohol. By the late C19 the word was also being used as a noun to refer to someone who is addicted to drink or habitually drunk.
